A Trail man has been sentenced to seven years behind bars for a series of violent crimes that began New Year’s Eve 2017.

Brandon Coons, 26, was found guilty of five charges, including assault with a weapon and trafficking cocaine, after a two-week trial in Rossland in July.

According to court documents, the case began on Dec. 31, 2017, when Coons picked up a man, who was not identified, at the Greyhound bus stop in Castlegar and drove him to Birchbank Station Road near Trail.

Shortly thereafter, two masked men, never identified by police, arrived in a second vehicle. They pulled the victim from Coons’ vehicle, and punched and kicked him.